Telles sells 4 rental properties in Arkansas

The former public official accused of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German has made two significant financial moves this year as his murder trial nears.

In June, Robert Telles, a former Clark County public administrator, sold four rental properties he owned in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a combined $485,000 to a Texas-based company, public records show. Telles, who remains in Clark County Detention Center without bail, bought the properties in 2019 for $322,000.

He is representing himself and has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

Public records also show on Feb. 1 Telles took out a $125,000 home equity line of credit from Discover Bank against the home he owns with his wife in the Peccole Ranch area east of Summerlin.

“It’s all for legal expenses,” said Telles during an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal from the Clark County Detention Center on Dec. 5. “It’s stuff that I’ve actually spent already so far, and stuff that I am going to be spending.”

Telles further explained when he sold the rental properties it was to pay off the second mortgage credit line on the house he owns, which he and his wife originally purchased for $215,000 in 2011.

“Frankly, I couldn’t have a second mortgage on the home for long because I didn’t want my wife to worry,” he said. “I mean, she’s only on her income now.”

Financial problems

Telles also complained that money was tight for his wife and children.

“Right now things are unsustainable,” said Telles regarding his current financial situation. “We’ve got three kids, we’ve got the mortgage, we have other obligations, and right now it’s with one income. So with what money I have, a lot of it’s going to interest payments, … gone to pay for counsel.”

Since his arrest in September 2022, Telles has gone through a series of attorneys, including firing his public defender for private attorneys and then deciding to represent himself. He decided on private attorneys about a week after the Review-Journal reported that he had significant assets that might have disqualified him from obtaining taxpayer-funded counsel.

After parting with two private attorneys, Telles asked for a standby public defender to advise him, but this time the judge in the case questioned him about his assets.

In April, District Judge Michelle Leavitt determined that Telles did not qualify for a public defender because of his financial assets. Before being elected, Telles operated Accolade Law, a small firm focused on probate and estate planning. In October 2022, a judge granted the release of financial information regarding Telles, who indicated that before being removed from his position he earned $10,000 a month and his wife earned $10,500 a month.

Former Clark County prosecutor Thomas Moskal, who is now a private defense attorney, said if Telles wants a public defender to take on his case again he could most likely be granted one.

“All of that financial stuff doesn’t matter in the courts eyes,” he said. “If he wants an attorney, they are going to put an attorney on a case like this, because if you go to trial you don’t want something flipped on appeal later on. (The courts) always prefer someone to have an attorney and not represent themselves because self representation always goes horribly, even for someone such as himself who is an attorney. So everybody involved, the prosecutors, the judge, everybody would rather this guy have a defense attorney.”

Moskal added Telles is not an ideal client, however, given his legal background.

“I had some colleagues of mine consider representing Telles, and I would never want to represent this guy, especially because he is an attorney himself,” he said. “He’s going to be giving you all kinds of barking orders, file this challenge, do this, do that.”

The next hearing in Telles’s criminal case is scheduled for Jan. 17.

Investigations editor Arthur Kane contributed to the story.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.